You are here

Pages

The pre-season is done. The Islanders, Coyotes, Panthers, Thrashers, and Lightning are still in place, for better, for worse, for now. Theo Fleury conquered his demons, and was in training camp for awhile, but couldn't quite make the cut, but he tried, sometimes that's what counts.

The NHL is not on DirecTV yet, with no contract in place for VS, which isn't good for the #7 sport in the US (yes, behind College Football, College Bastketball, and NASCAR). They've even come to begging fans to pressure DirecTV to carry VS, as seen on Yahoo!Sports:

Some questions for the 2009-2010 Series:

1) What will Bankruptcy Court dictate be done with the Phoenix Coyotes? Will "Make It Seven" actually come to be, or could it even become "How About 8 or 9"?

2) Will the New York Islanders team up with the New Jersey Nets for the Brooklyn Arena Complex, or is the Lighthouse something real?The Lighthouse Project with Charles Wang is apparently dead. Kansas City here they come?

3) WWSAS? What Will Sean Avery Say?

4) Can Alex Ovechkin bring the Stanley Cup Finals, maybe even a Cup, to the DC area? Can he pull the 50/50 (50 goals, 50 games)?

5) Is this the year New Jersey and Detroit fall lower, and Chicago and Boston climb high and stay high, respectively?

“In the final analysis, the court cannot find or conclude that the interests of the NHL can be adequately protected if the Coyotes are moved to Hamilton without first having a final decision regarding the claimed rights of the NHL and the claims of the debtors and [Balsillie],” the judge ruled.

With the team having done so poorly last season, some of its better-known players having departed for other teams, and Joe Sakic having retired, I expect to see lower ticket sales and other financial woes for the Avs this season. In addition to having to rebuild the team's roster into something respectable, it's going to take a lot of hard work to win back Denver's attention.

Also, #1 "Make it Seven" is done. For now. Also, the judge rejected both offers, the NHL offer is too low, and he will not force Balsillie on the NHL knowing they don't want him. Yet.

From what I was reading, the problem with the NHL's offer wasn't that it was too low, it was that the NHL was excluding Moyes and Gretzky from being on the list of creditors, and that is up to the courts to decide. When the NHL makes some changes to the offer, it should be accepted.

If the Habs are strong on the forecheck, against a Leafs D that could have trouble moving the puck this year, the Habs should come out ahead. I bleed bleu, blanc, et rouge though, so I'm more than a tad... biased in my viewpoint. As long as the Habs don't reply to the on-ice barbarism of the Leafs' bottom 6 forwards, they should be fine.

Of course, who should win goes out the window whenever the Habs play the Leafs... somehow Toronto always has that extra gear in the games.

I heard on the radio it was too low, but it is a US-based station, so it's probably wrong!
Shannahan is done with New Jersey, apparently he didn't fit in the plans for this season.
Oh, and Marian Gaborik stubbed his toe.

I heard on the radio it was too low, but it is a US-based station, so it's probably wrong!
Shannahan is done with New Jersey, apparently he didn't fit in the plans for this season.
Oh, and Marian Gaborik stubbed his toe.

Out 3-6 weeks, but he'll be back earlier if you can work a bonus into his contract.

“No matter how rich you are, you can still only drink 16 or 17 liters of beer a day.”

I heard on the radio it was too low, but it is a US-based station, so it's probably wrong!
Shannahan is done with New Jersey, apparently he didn't fit in the plans for this season.
Oh, and Marian Gaborik stubbed his toe.

Out 3-6 weeks, but he'll be back earlier if you can work a bonus into his contract.

I thought we had a good game. We controlled the play for long periods of time and outshot the Habs badly. We could easily have won that game.

The Gomez - Gionta - Cammalleri line was quite good, as expected, and made us pay. Otherwise, our defensemen made a few errors - Beauchemin in particular - but that stuff will get ironed out as the season goes on. I can tell I'm going to have a love hate relationship with Komisarek.

We definitely are not an easy team to play against, so that part of the strategy has worked out quite well.

Vector wrote:

Toronto has a very good defensive corps. White, Beauchemin, and Kaberle have no problem moving the puck. It's their forwards that suck.

So much hate for the Leafs forwards! They played pretty well tonight; responsible defensively and energetic on the forecheck. Stajan showed some good hands on his first goal (although Kaberle really was making everyone out there look good). The bonehead stuff is yet to come. Tonight - we played well and were unlucky not to get the win.

Canucks were thoroughly out played tonight, despite a good attempt to come back in the 3rd. Luongo didn't impress in the first, but he made some great saves in the second and third to keep the game close. Amazing work on stopping the cross crease passes. Shirokov had NHL rookie jitters and couldn't drive the puck home a couple of times.

Overall I think Calgary truly out played us and had a terrific season opener. Kiprusoff made some amazing saves and their defense was deadly on cutting down angles around the net. Can't wait to see the next game against Calgary, hopefully we can give them a run next time.

Agreed. I was especially impressed by the Stajan/Stalberg/Blake line - that was definitely the one that generated the vast majority of your scary good chances.
At the same time, though, luck starts and ends in in the net - Price made the saves he had to, Toskola didn't. (Plus that penalty where Komisarek pushed the guy into Toskola for GT Interference was total BS)
Funnily enough, the Habs biggest problem proved to be their defence - that first pass coming out of the zone was not clicking all night. The team needs more time to gel, and I'm not convinced of these defensive pairings. Gionta and Cammalleri are looking well worth their contracts - Gomez is still up in the air, looked a bit floaty.
Oh, and Hal Gil is looking like a HUGE mistake. Worst player on the ice by far. I can't wait for Hamrlik to be back - and please, oh god, don't let Markov be injured.

Canucks were thoroughly out played tonight, despite a good attempt to come back in the 3rd. Luongo didn't impress in the first, but he made some great saves in the second and third to keep the game close. Amazing work on stopping the cross crease passes. Shirokov had NHL rookie jitters and couldn't drive the puck home a couple of times.

Overall I think Calgary truly out played us and had a terrific season opener. Kiprusoff made some amazing saves and their defense was deadly on cutting down angles around the net. Can't wait to see the next game against Calgary, hopefully we can give them a run next time.

Calgary owned the first period and parts of the second. However, the Canucks were the much better team in the third. The whole team was better in the third. The most surprising player, to me, was Samuelsson. I really liked his game. He was tenacious and in all the right spots. I don't care if he takes 5 shots a game, as long as he shoots I'm happy.

The fact that the Toronto forwards played well and the defence sucked is something that confuses me. The line of Rosehill-Wallin-Orr is still beyond useless. The other three lines were impressive. Stalberg looked great out there. I really liked what I saw. His speed and size are amazing. He isn't the typical big guy that can skate for his size, he's a speedy guy that has size. Seems unafraid to charge towards the net too.

At the same time, though, luck starts and ends in in the net - Price made the saves he had to, Toskola didn't.

Absolutely true. Toskala didn't let in any soft goals, but he didn't steal any either. I thought Price looked pretty good out there. Hope he bounces back from last season.

Hal Gill is slow on his feet, but he is very good at what he does when things are going as planned. Tonight we saw him scrambling, and when Hal Gill has to scramble bad things happen. He's a good defenceman in a good system - his play for Pittsburgh last year was solid. It's just.. Montreal has far too many new faces in the lineup to have a smooth system at this point. Gill is going to continue looking ugly for a while.

The line of Rosehill-Wallin-Orr is still beyond useless.

Yeah, and you'll notice (other than Wallin) they hardly played outside of the first period. The first period, when there were two fights. Coincidence? :O

Last night's game was good. I hadn't expected the Avs to win, but they ended up 5-2 over the Sharks. San Jose usually chokes in their season opener, and the Avs were likely at least a little propelled by the emotion of Joe Sakic Night, but it was a good victory and a fun game to watch. The new coach seems hellbent on getting the team to play a faster, more aggressive game, and he succeeded tonight; this certainly wasn't the plodding Avalanche team from last season.

I'm impressed with a few of our new players. Kyle Quincey wasn't on my radar before tonight, but he played a brilliant game. Likewise, if Matt Duchene stays this ambitious and hungry, he's going to have a great rookie season.

We got up to some of our old tricks with the penalty kill. The PK wasn't completely ineffective, but it wasn't disruptive either; the Sharks were able to more or less do what they wanted, and Craig Anderson had to make some big saves to keep the Avs ahead. Anderson did a great job of robbing the Sharks on that two minute 5-on-3 in the third, though.

I still don't think the Avs have a stellar season ahead of them. Too many of the players are inexperienced, and it's foolish to expect big things after just one game. However, even if things don't go great, it seems as though they'll at least be a fun team to watch.

Hey Jayhawker, how did Kariya look in preseason? It's year 3 of my keeper pool and I picked him up on waivers - I'm hoping for another 75-80 point season out of him if he stays healthy along with McDonald and Backes.

Looks like Kariya is going to be ok. Let's Go Blues!!!

The Blues opened up and dominated the Wings for 10 minutes, and took a 1-0 lead. But then a BS goal (can you call interference on the ref?), and fluke breakaway goal while the Wings were shorthanded just took the wind out of St. Louis. It was 3-1 after a PP goal, and half way through the second before the Blues got their second wind. By the end of the second, The blues scored three times and Kariya had two goals, putting the Blues up 4-3. Let's just say the bar I was at got pretty loud.

Pretty nice win to open the season, as they hold on for a 4-3 win.

Let's do it again tomorrow!

Henry Standing Bear: It is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soiree.

Castiel: I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave.

We definitely are not an easy team to play against, so that part of the strategy has worked out quite well.

If Komisarek can control his emotions, simplify his game, and rely on Kaberle to bail him out/breakout of the zone, you should be pretty happy with him. I don't know if you'll see him as good as he was 2 years ago, but he should be better than last season. As we saw last night, he had very little in the way of discipline and that's something Wilson and Co. need to get into his mind.

I was shocked to see the Avs beat the Sharks, especially by 3. Granted, I barely follow the Western Conference (or Eastern Conference for that matter, but to win on opening night is huge.

In other news, the Habs may be doomed. Markov out anywhere from 2-4 months with a torn tendon. With the rest of the defense corps and a capable coach, we might be able to weather the storm, but I think the team has maybe 4 wins in 20+ games without Markov over the past few years. He's the key to the powerplay, the team's best best defensive defenseman, the best guy on the breakout, very good on the penalty kill, the leader to the defense, and the best offensive threat from the back. He can't be replaced. Worst case Markov's back for March, and the Habs have 19 games to scrape into the playoffs and hope the Ghosts can help propel them further.

I was beginning to wonder if the Canes would score this season. They did -- Walker deflecting a Ward shot, o' the humanity -- but half the team got injured in the first 2 games and they look awful in every way. Long season ahead.

Canucks lost their first two games. Ugh. Worst part was they looked like a great team against Colorado and still f*cked up. Need to capitalize on their chances.

I only caught the third period of this one. The Canucks looked good in the replays I saw of the first period; by the third, they just looked worn out. I don't know about their first game, but I think in their second they just ran up against a hot goaltender. Anderson definitely stole that game.

Edit: I can guarantee you that we won't see rankings like this again this season:

Canucks lost their first two games. Ugh. Worst part was they looked like a great team against Colorado and still f*cked up. Need to capitalize on their chances.

I only caught the third period of this one. The Canucks looked good in the replays I saw of the first period; by the third, they just looked worn out. I don't know about their first game, but I think in their second they just ran up against a hot goaltender. Anderson definitely stole that game.

That makes sense. I missed half of the second and all of the third. A hot goaltender has a way of deflating teams. You guys may have a number 1 in Anderson.

5) Is this the year New Jersey and Detroit fall lower, and Chicago and Boston climb high and stay high, respectively?

Oof! I know its only 2 games into the season, but it looks like Detroit's reign of Division titles might come to an end. They're still gonna be at the top of the standings at the end of the year and go deep into the playoffs, but the gauranteed win isn't there anymore. I watched a lot of the pre-season games and both of the regular season and The Wings just look dull. There is no energy in their game and, just like last year, they love giving up those leads. You watch Detroit and its a bunch of skill players being handcuffed by their system. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are, really, the only players on the team allowed to be creative. Every one else has a position to get into and not deviate from. Its effective, for the most part, but allows the opponents' defense to know exactly where they'll be.

Also, Is this the year?

“No matter how rich you are, you can still only drink 16 or 17 liters of beer a day.”